Editorial: Stay warm, keep an eye on others

Gannett Wisconsin Media

It's quite common during a Wisconsin winter to see the low temperature for the day below zero. A below-zero high temperature might happen once or twice. But several in the same month is unusual.

Even for hardy Wisconsinites, this winter has been trying, especially in the last six weeks.

The last time it was this cold from mid-December to the end of January in the Green Bay area was the winter of 1993-94, according to meteorologist Rich Mamrosh of the National Weather Service in Ashwaubenon. The average daily temperature for that period was 8.8 degrees, compared with 11.2 for this six-week span, which is the 13th coldest on record dating back to the 1880s.

And if your parents or grandparents start saying this has been nothing compared to when they were kids - they're right. The coldest stretch for the mid-December to end of January time period was 4.7 degrees in 1976-77.

But no relief is in sight as we'll be in a colder-than-normal weather pattern for the next several weeks, Mamrosh said, though it may not be as cold as it is now.

Many people will put up with snow, but complain when it's frigid. This year has had both. The combination of strong winds, above-normal snowfall and below-normal temperatures have made this winter seem especially trying.

Add to that a propane shortage and the needle moves from "trying" to "miserable."

Just ask your school administrators, who catch flak for their decisions on school, even though they have no control of the weather. They are cursed when they close school and cursed when they don't.

You know it has been a cold winter when the number of "cold days" exceeds the number of "snow days." After most schools in Northeastern Wisconsin canceled classes three days in a row earlier this month, we're back in another deep freeze and more school cancellations.

Overall, though, we've been pleased to see how people have reacted.

We've seen strangers and friends helping each other, whether it's jump-starting a dead battery on a frigid day, pushing a stuck vehicle out of a snow drift, watching friends' and neighbors' kids when school has been canceled or just checking in on a neighbor to make sure everything is all right. Local governments have opened warming shelters.

It all helps.

As yet another stretch of cold weather is upon us, we call on others to check on your neighbors and watch for signs of people in distress.

It's a long winter and if we help each other, it will make it all the more bearable.

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Editorial: Stay warm, keep an eye on others

It's quite common during a Wisconsin winter to see the low temperature for the day below zero. A below-zero high temperature might happen once or twice. But several in the same month is unusual.

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